Grey Tree frog trying to hibernate

[ColleenT]

I raised my 2 Gray tree frogs from tadpoles this past spring and summer, this is their first winter with me in Eastern PA. the inside house temps are 68-70 at any given time. I have 3 potted pothos plants and one of the 2 frogs is getting thinner and has been hiding in the soil of one of the plants. i am worried, but my other tree frog is fat and is not doing this. they were the same age and probably the same parents. both frogs are great eaters and i thought they were both looking plump, but when i picked up the hibernator today he/she was a bit thin. They eat Crix or FF every night, they have a small water bowl with dechlorinated water and i spray the tank daily with distilled water. they live in a Ext Terra that measures 18x 18x 24 high. i have bamboo and fake vines for them, also hiding places with fake plants on suction cups.

any advice or experience with this?

[Crunchy Frog]

I'm pretty certain that they would not be hibernating at those temps. The weight loss despite eating suggests parasites to me. I would get them both tested, personally.

[teslas intern]

My gray tree frog used to hibernate on me every year, granted our house was cool, but nowhere near what it was outside. I don't actually know if it is required that they do this or not, but given that one is acting strangely and the other is not I would be concerned. What kind of soil is in the potted plant? If you haven't already, I'd change out that soil for pure, no fertilizer peat moss, or sterilized leaf litter compost. You may also want to turn the heat up a bit to wake up the sleepy froggie, so she can fatten again, and then turn it down so they can sleep. And yes, get tested for parasites, just so you can rule that out for sure. Hopefully some others with more experience will comment, good luck!

[ColleenT]

i took the frog out and cleaned him/her off, and then put him back in the tank and since then he/she has been acting normal and eating. the temps in my house are 68-70 and i cannot afford to heat the house up any more than that. these frogs live outside in our brutal winters, so i think they can survive these temps. soil is just average potting soil, no additives. plants were dipped in bleachwater solution before i ever put them in the tank, they were rinsed and cleaned. will continue to keep and eye on this frog. the other one is much plumper, but might just be better at catching food.

[LilyPad]

Mine have never gone under in those temps. The only time I've had one go under was when he was sick, he died within a day. I always had trouble getting him to eat and keep on weight, in hindsight, wish I had run a fecal test on him earlier on. How is your humidity? When I was having trouble with that boy, I read that they'll go under in low humidity. Instead of warming the whole house, you could heat a little with just a heating pad or even just an incandescent light during the day to help with digestion. I have used a 15 watt on top of my grey tree frog tank in the past to warm things up when the house got really cold.

[ColleenT]

here is a pic i just got. they guy i was concerned about is the guy on the bottom. i have been spraying them 3x a day. i can increase that, but it seems very humid still. he does not look skinny when he's sitting like this, but if i stretch him out, he seems a bit thin, unless all tree frogs just look slender when they are stretched out.

[Treesniffer]

My Grays are 3 yrs old. In the winter, here in NC, I keep my house between 63 - 65 at night. They've gone into brumation every winter. This year, after the heater kicked on drying out the air in the house, I bought an ExoTerra Fogger. I now maintain viv night humidity at 50%-60% night temp 63-65; daytime viv humidity 40-45% day temp 68-70. Couldn't have done it without a 15-minute increment timer. Without the fogger, humidity levels dropped to 35% in the viv and there was brumation. This is my first winter with a fogger and first winter with no brumation. Activity level slightly increased as did appetite but because I will not raise the night time house temp to over 65 and not below 63, I have slowed down feeding to once a week versus every 4 days. I believe they sense the seasons even with all this wizardry.

[teslas intern]

So maybe the dropping humidity is a crucial indicator to when it is time to hibernate. I never misted my grey tree frog and she always hibernated, and our house wasn't that cold either.

[Crunchy Frog]

Mine haven't been hibernating, but they have been burrowing into the substrate more frequently lately, at least in their old 10 gallon tanks. Their old tanks ran right alongside a window, so they could see the winter outside, so I wonder if that had anything to do with it. Their new setup is by a wall, and also has much brighter lighting, so I'll see if that makes a difference once they get settled in.

I don't think the temps are an issue, but they may be picking up other environmental cues.

[ColleenT]

updating, she/he has been laying in one of the pothos plants, and i spray him/her when i spray the tank. both of my Greys are slowing down their feeding. it's still happening, but i am only feeding them every couple of days instead of every night. there are still crix walking around in there, so i won't add any until i don't see crix, and i see more action. i guess it's just instinctual. but outside they would be hibernating/brumating. it's so cold out there.

[teslas intern]

In response to the original question, of is he all right, I'm pretty sure at this point they are fine and one was just more in tune with winter coming. Thanks for the update! Good luck!